Hi cyn427, As I type this, my husband is downstairs in the basement, ripping out carpet in our 16 x 24 ft rec room. This is a brand new custom built house...moved in a year and a half ago. Our poor cat.....must have been very stressed out by the move, because he went ahead and sprayed all over that rec room!..We tried to clean and clean...using the recommended enymatic cleaners.... but that smell was still there! So....we have decided to rip out the carpet and put down engineered wood floors.They are floating floors with the clic/loc type of installation....no glue. We live in the cold mid west...so I wanted something warmish underfoot. we are also adding a small wet bar, and turning the room into a games/enertainment area..there is a carpeted theater room attached...luckily, kitty did not mess up in there! We purchased the wood (handscraped maple) online...infact...delivery is due tomorrow. We are researching the best underlayment to put down... We were happy to see that the concrete is in good shape...very level. Hubby filled in some of the dings that occurred from removal of the carpet. We will do a basic test for moisture...and hopefully, we will be laying floors down this weekend. I hope we have made the right decision...I am a little nervous! Let us know what you decide!

Now that he's broken through one of your basement walls and removed two feet of soil, it's a little late to be having second thoughts!! So it's labour only. Assuming this is a smallish house--say 2,000 sf or so, the price is low. But, for some parts of the country, I suppose, not absurd for a no-invoice deal. But, as you have described it, there may be a lot wrong with the way he's doing it! On a house I bought to renovate, I was presented with a similar situation. The previous owner had lowered the basement floor by about a foot by breaking the concrete floor up and and digging. Then he had laid a new wood floor directly on the soil! (The basement was totally finished when I bought the home, so I didn't realize what I was buying.) In lowering the floor, he had dug lower than the footings--in this case, bricks laid perpendicular to the brick foundation wall. Essentially, he undermined the house. (And since it was a semi-attached, he had partially undermined the adjoining home too.) A professional engineer designed the fix: a rebar reinforced retaining wall around the entire perimeter of the basement to provide lateral support to the footings. Since I was doing that, I also lowered the basement a bit further and put in new sewer lines. My concern on your home is that the excavation has undermined your footings too. He left a foot of undisturbed soil between his excavation and the walls. That's not adequate. Putting up stud walls to secure wall finishings is fine. None of this work was done with a building permit, I take it. Before you proceed any further, I strongly suggest you contact your local building officials or a qualified professional engineer to design this project properly. Don't be surprised if the municipal inspector puts a "stop work" order on it. It's only a bargain if it's done right!!

With enough money and time, all remolding projects are possible. Your plan would involve cutting the slab. Contractors would come in with a large concrete cutting saw and would cut a channel while keeping the blade cool with running water. They would then jack hammer out the concrete where they cut it, install the plumbing and re-pour the concrete. It could involve removing partition walls to cut the channel. It would definitely involve moving out furnishings and sealing off the rest of the house to protect it from the dust. Besides the cost of cutting the concrete and moving the plumbing would be the cost of the divorce... Remodeling is tough on a couple -- and kitchens are the worst. Seriously, if money isn't a big deal and the house is special to you then it can be done. Esp if you can afford to move out while it's being done. If this is something you need to do on a reasonable budget, I would consider alternatives.

The decision of crawl vs basement would depend in part on more information not known. First, if your frost depth is 48", the addition should have full footings and stem walls (mono pours are not typically done at that depth). If so, eliminating the foundation probably doesn't have to happen and makes the decision of crawl space for you. Though if this 800sf addition was put on top a patio slab, then it has to come out regardless. The existing house is a big factor. If you have a 2300sf footprint (1500 ranch+800 addition) with full 1500sf basement, adding an additional 800sf basement may not add any more amenities. But if you have a 1700sf footprint (2BR 900 ranch+800 addition) with partial basement, then the extra dig could be justified. If you have a walk-out basement opportunity, I would say a basement dig would be justified in any case. The design and purpose of the 800sf addition, and how it relates to the existing house, also is a big factor. If you have an old small house with a tight back stair to a dungy low ceiling basement, then maybe opening up a new stair to a new usable basement is justifiable for the expense. And surely other reasons pro and con based on the house/neighborhood/budget not known here . . . .